We Tell Ourselves
by Nightcrawlerlover
Summary: AU of The Zeppo from Season 3. Instead of Xander, Buffy faces down Jack O'Toole and shows him why she's the Slayer while she's at it.


**Hey there, my fellow readers and writers. I hope you are doing fine. I know I sure am, what with all the writing and reading I've been doing since the last time I published a new oneshot or crossover story (along with battling the writer's block that comes along occasionally).**

**Here's a new BtVS oneshot I cooked up one day. I used Google Images to look up some really awesome and inspiring pics of the BtVS oneshot character Jack O'Toole (portrayed very awesomely by actor Channon Roe) from the Season 3 episode The Zeppo. It was then that I got to thinking about a fanfic that's based on that episode, but is quite different. **

**Also, I read this really cool Buffy twoshot titled **Xander's A Hero! **by** Willow Fireheart**. ****It's Alternate Universe, so rather than being eaten by Oz who is in werewolf form ****like in "The Zeppo"****, Jack follows Xander out of the room where he disarmed the bomb ****instead****. **

**While reading the fanfic, I also took a liking to this one line that's spoken by Buffy in a cool and nonchalant tone when she looks up and sees Jack: "Jack O'Toole, what can we do for you?"**

**So, inspired by that very line in that fic, I cooked this up. It's an Alternate Universe fanfic of The Zeppo. In it, Xander is still a part of the Scooby Gang, and he isn't the one to face Jack down for the first time. Instead, it's Buffy Summers who takes Xander's place. And not only does she face down Jack, she also shows him why she's called the Slayer while she's at it, too. **

**Well, with that neat scenario in the back of my mind, this was what I came up with. Hope you like it. :) **

**Disclaimer: Genius Joss Whedon owns Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The lyrics to We Tell Ourselves by Clint Black belong to their respective owners. Also, the lines "My true nature. You want a taste?" are from **Buffy vs Dracula** in Season 5. I decided to put them in here because if she had the courage to say them to Dracula (played very excellently by Rudolf Martin in that episode), then she could say them to anybody who crossed her path, especially Jack O'Toole, too. I own the fanfics I cook up from time to time.**

* * *

We Tell Ourselves

_I ought to know the look in another's eyes  
When there's something on their mind  
I think I saw that look in a lover's eyes  
They were looking into mine  
Like we both had found the one we want  
But found the one we wanted just quit trying  
_

_{Chorus}  
So we tell ourselves _  
_that what we found is what we meant to find  
That's what we tell ourselves  
You won't believe the things  
A heart could tell a mind  
Somehow we sell ourselves on love  
I just don't think I'll believe my heart this time_

_I ought to know the language well_  
_I've heard me tell myself these things before_  
_When I finally made my mind up_  
_My heart tells me to look for something more_  
_Determined not to wind up wondering was she the one_  
_Well, you never can be sure_

_{Chorus}  
So we tell ourselves _  
_that what we found is what we meant to find  
That's what we tell ourselves  
You won't believe the things  
A heart could tell a mind  
Somehow we sell ourselves on love  
I just don't think I'll believe my heart this time_

_{Instrumental}_

_Yeah, we tell ourselves _  
_that what we found is what we meant to find  
That's what we tell ourselves  
You won't believe the things  
A heart could tell a mind  
Somehow we sell ourselves on love  
I just don't think I'll believe my heart this time_  
-Clint Black, **We Tell Ourselves**

Her emerald eyes blazing with determination and her blonde locks flying behind her, Buffy Summers strode across the campus of the high school situated on top of a Hellmouth in Sunnydale, California. Her mouth was set in a grim line. Her fellow peers first looked at her and took note of the look her on her face before glancing at each other. They knew that whoever it was she was looking for, he or she had to be very careful. There was something about Buffy that was so... well, mysterious and kind of hard to solve – like a puzzle of some sort, maybe.

_Well, all we can say right now is, woe betide the person that Buffy's looking for right now, _they thought and shrugged before going back to their activities.

Stopping to calm herself before continuing with her quest, Buffy made sure to look all casual and nonchalant as she scanned the courtyard of the school. Then her green eyes finally lit up upon seeing who it was she had personally wanted to give what she referred to as the pounding of the day – and not just physically, but verbally as well. After all, who said that bullying always had to be physical? Verbal bullying and emotional bullying was there sometimes as well. Buffy knew that for sure.

She knew who it was instantly. The brownish-blond hair. The dark brown eyes. The sneer that would sometimes make its appearance on his face. It was none other than Jack O'Toole himself.

Just his name made her want to find him, his buddies or maybe all of them at the same time, and show them the meaning of what the word "Slayer" really was, as well as tell them what she really thought of them, too – both physically and verbally, to be precise.

Upon hearing approaching footsteps, Jack O'Toole looked up from his position where he was leaning all casual-like against the wall outside Sunnydale High. At first, he couldn't believe who it was he was seeing. It wasn't Xander Harris, and it sure wasn't Cordelia Chase (who Jack had heard was now an ex-Queen Bee, or ‛Princess' as he preferred to call her), either.

It was only when there was a flash of blond hair and the lightning that seemed to make its appearance in those emerald eyes lit up her face that he realized who it was. He then narrowed his own dark orbs.

"Jack O'Toole," Buffy hissed, glaring at him as she stopped three feet away. "What can I do for you?"

Jack O'Toole may have been seen as a bully to some, but he sure was smart. For one thing, he knew about the Hellmouth, as well as the vampires and demons that roamed around Sunnydale in the nighttime. But Buffy... well, to say that she was "a different tale altogether" was putting it mildly. She was, according to the rumors and stories Jack had heard and pieced together so many times over, the Slayer. Also, according to a story told by one demon to another (which Jack had secretly heard while he spied on them one night), she had the spirit of a warrior inside her.

Those very words took the opportunity to resurface in Jack's memory as he then pulled himself back to the present.

"Buffy Summers," he said as he leered at her, a trace of a smirk doing its best to make itself known on his face, and then walked over to her.

Suddenly, they looked like two cowboys from the Wild West ready for a shootout. The exception was that there weren't any guns, though, what with guns on the "Not Allowed at School" list. This was different, and only words would be needed for now.

Even though he tried to make the smirk disappear by frowning, like he usually did, as well as hoping to unnerve her, Jack's efforts to replace his smirk with a serious look were unfruitful. Instead, Buffy simply returned the smirk, which now made Jack all puzzled.

_OK, now this is kind of odd, _he thought. _Why is she suddenly returning my own smirk, which happens to be one of my own trademarks, back at me? I don't get it. I just don't get it at all._

Seeing that Buffy was about to speak, he focused on her and listened closely. But the words she spoke were not ones he was expecting to hear... at all.

"Honestly, Jack," Buffy growled, "I cannot believe this. You are such a bully – not only to my friends, especially Xander, of course – but to me as well.

"I want you to do me a favor," she added after a moment.

Jack blinked, surprised at her calmness, before raising one of his eyebrows. "Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"Cut my friends and I some slack, of course. What did you **think** I meant?" Buffy replied coolly, her tone saying that she was serious despite how cool and collected she seemed to be on the outside.

Jack immediately sensed that, and mentally told himself to be very careful and on his guard. If there was one thing he knew about Buffy, it was that sometimes, she meant serious business.

He blinked again, puzzled this time, and asked, "Why?"

Buffy took a deep breath before narrowing her eyes and replying with, "Because I'm the Slayer. That's why."

Those words seemed to hit Jack like the proverbial ton of bricks, or quite possibly something else similar to that altogether. He was surprised. Although he had heard about that for what seemed like weeks, hearing her say it still sent a shock through Jack anyway.

"No," he said, his eyes wide. Now he definitely looked the part of the shocked bystander. It lasted for only a second, though. Then he blinked, puzzlement replacing the look of surprise while simultaneously looking at Buffy as though he was seeing her for the first time. "Really?" he queried.

Buffy then smirked. "Yes," she replied.

Then Buffy went into action. She went over to Jack, and used a roundhouse kick that caught him off-guard and knocked him to the ground. As he slowly got to his feet, Buffy simply smiled. Apparently, she still had the skills to knock a guy off his feet – literally, to be precise.

"What is this?" asked Jack as he finally got back on his feet and looked Buffy in the eyes.

For her part, Buffy decided to start things off by giving Jack a cool smirk. She knew from lots of experience – especially back in Los Angeles where she used to live and where she had been called as the Slayer at the age of fifteen – that a technique like that would usually make the vampires she was fighting lose their courage. It was also very unique in that it usually worked; they would usually be caught off-guard, which, in turn, gave Buffy the advantage she needed.

Also, sometimes a little play on words, such as a pun or quip (which was usually on Buffy's part) never hurt, either.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Buffy looked Jack straight in the eyes. "My true nature," she replied coolly, while giving her yellow locks a toss with her right hand. A few of the other students waited to see what would happen next. They had looks of anticipation on their faces, as though something – definitely something big – was about to happen.

Finally, hoping to ante up the suspense a bit, just as one would do with a bet in a game of cards, Buffy said, "You want a **taste**?"

Jack narrowed his eyes before growling and then rushing over to her. Fortunately for Buffy, her Slayer strength was a big help to her as she leaped into the air, causing Jack to miss her. Buffy landed neatly with both feet planted on the ground before turning to look at Jack.

Jack, for his part, had skidded to a stop and turned to see Buffy standing there. He blinked. "Wow" was all he could think of to say for a moment before adding, "You're good".

Buffy shrugged. "It's all a part and parcel of the whole Slayer gig."

However, she didn't count on Jack's suddenly rushing at her again. She tried to leap over him a second time, but Jack, who had anticipated that move this time, was too quick for her and grabbed her shoulders.

Soon, Buffy found herself lying on the ground, with Jack on top of her.

Smirking, Jack looked at Buffy, a lecherous gleam in his eyes. However, that very look happened to be the kind that Buffy was all too familiar with, having seen it once too often. She didn't like it one bit at all. And there was a good reason why.

It brought back bad memories of that one day at work when she was sexually harassed by two guys – namely a trucker and his redneck friend, while working as a waitress under her middle name Anne in the diner called Helen's Kitchen. Also, besides those two guys, the middle-aged, male customers that came there would constantly leer, sneer and give her those looks more than once. She disliked it when men would look at her as though she was something to eat – a big, juicy steak, maybe.

Mentally pushing away the memories of running away to Los Angeles for four months after being kicked out of the house by her mother and having been expelled from Sunnydale High by Principal Snyder, Buffy now fixed her gaze on Jack.

"Get off me," she hissed, "right now. Or this will get ugly very soon."

"Say ‛please'," said Jack, that cursed smirk still adorning his face.

Buffy narrowed her eyes. "I don't think so," she replied.

Before Jack knew what was happening, he was knocked off of Buffy by a right hook – which she had administered, no doubt. Buffy took the opportunity to roll to her feet.

"Jack," she hissed, "don't even think about tempting me down the wrong path, OK?" Before Jack had a chance to think up a witty reply, Buffy continued.

"So watch your back," she casually said, "as I make it a point to go through with my threats. And if a fellow student crosses the line with me, they get what they deserve, be it bully or jock."

She paused for a moment, hoping that her words had sunk in. The look on Jack's face told her that she had succeeded, bigtime.

A satisfied smile crossed Buffy's face as she turned on her heel and headed away to where her friends were sitting. When she locked eyes with them, she looked surprised at first. _Uh-oh, _she thought, a bit worried deep down. _I hope I didn't make my friends mad._

However, the grins on their faces told Buffy a different story. They were actually proud of her.

Willow gave her a smile and mouthed, I'm proud of you, Buffy, to which Buffy mouthed, Thanks, Will.

Oz gave her a nod that told her he approved of what she had done. Xander gave her a proud smile and two thumbs-up as his way of saying ‛way to go, Buffster'.

Last but not least was Cordelia. For her part, she gave Buffy a rare smile.

"Good going, Buffy. It's about time someone gave that Jack O'Toole a lesson on what happens to bullies when they go up against someone who's stronger than them, especially if that person happens to be a Slayer."

"We always knew you had it in you, Buffy," said Oz. "Even the wolf dislikes him with a passion."

Buffy blinked, but then smiled. If there was one thing about her friends she liked, it was that they knew exactly what to say.

_That'll do, Buffy, _she thought as she sat down with her friends and they began chatting with each other. _That'll do._

* * *

**Well, that's the end of this oneshot. (I thought I'd end it with something like what Farmer Hoggett said to Babe the pig at the end of the 1995 film** Babe**.) To me, I think Buffy is a great character to write about, as well as explore different sides from. This is pretty much true in Alternate Universe fanfics, especially those where everyone is human, too (which sometimes means no vampires or anything that relates to the supernatural).**

**Also, I hope that this story will inspire other writers to come up with their own Buffy fanfics – even those that are based on or inspired by the episodes.**

**Anyway, nice feedback is very much appreciated, please. :)**


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